


what the stars will teach

by cherrystardust



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Howl's Moving Castle inspired, M/M, florist donghyuck, renhyuck, wizard renjun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:01:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27117904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrystardust/pseuds/cherrystardust
Summary: renjun lives alone in his loft. which isn't too bad, for if ever he gets bored, a little bit of his magic will transport he and his home where ever his heart desires. renjun fills his days with potions, spells, and where ever it is that he visits when he climbs through the stained glass window hidden in his bedroom. this system works well for a while, that is until renjun's heart makes a decision concerning a certain florist that feels a lot like the last time the stars tried to teach him something.
Relationships: Huang Renjun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	what the stars will teach

As Donghyuck watches the whirlwind of lightning and water swirl and encapsulate the Great Wizard Renjun, he marvels at the volumes of power that the magical man contains and is able to unleash without a second thought. This effortless release scares Donghyuck sometimes, but regardless he finds himself impressed. 

If a stranger were to catch a glimpse of this event unraveling in their small loft, they might think Renjun’s outburst was one of anger or hurt, and neither would be right, only close. 

Worry is what pushed Renjun into such a haphazard state. This worry has been building in his chest ever since the day Donghyuck became his apprentice.

✫ ˚♡ ⋆｡ ❀

That day it had been raining, switching carelessly between sharp sheets and gentle mists. 

During what seemed to be a lengthy mist, Renjun had set out toward the shopping quadrant of town. The packets of blue stardust had finally gotten in, and at that time Renjun had already waited a month for them, which was troublesome as blue stardust was the crucial ingredient for the spell he needed to complete and sell by the end of the day to satisfy his patron’s deadline. 

Once Renjun entered the market the air felt heavy, weighed down by passing conversations, and various scented vapors spilling from trial potions at miscellaneous stands. As he weaved his way through the crowd, the wizard pulled his coat closer around his body, slipping past other shoppers with his eyes set on the merchant he needed to visit.  
Renjun only needed to wait behind two other customers before his turn. While they made their respective transactions, Renjun twirled the loose star shaped button on the cuff of his sleeve.

After acquiring his stardust and some other necessities, Renjun began his way back home, a cleverly disguised loft that he could make disappear and appear in any location at the snap of his fingers. 

At the time, this loft had made home in Paris, which so happened to be the city that Donghyuck had been residing in, making barely enough money to survive in the city, working as a florist.

That day had started and progressed as ordinary as any for Donghyuck. He had been entering the shopping quadrant, with intent to check into his shift at the flower shop, just as Renjun was leaving. 

Their paths crossed when Renjun looked up from his bag in which he’d tucked away his goods, and spotted Donghyuck. Alarmingly, this stranger caught Renjun’s gaze for more than one reason, but the (debatably) more concerning reason had been because a thick, purple demon had been fast approaching the [really pretty] stranger. 

As the demon approached Donghyuck, its limbs dripped translucent lavender goop, that melted, and steamed into the cobblestone below mere moments after contact. Not everyone could see these demons, and Renjun wished he was in that population, but despite this wish, Renjun stared at the evil being, his nose scrunching in distaste.

The Wisps, the species of demon that had been closing in on Donghyuck, are the worst kind of demon that a certain evil wizard has in his arsenal. These demons are a particularly nasty type, they possess the ability to efficiently steal a person’s heart and soul, simultaneously, leaving the victim alive, but so bitter that lemons reverse ripen if left in the same room.

After taking the moment to despise the creature, Renjun knew he had to move quickly. With a flick of his wrist, a ball of light had been stolen from the nearest street lamp and grew ten times its original size as Renjun stretched his fingers outward from the center of his palm. Winding his arm back, he launched the light forward, directly into the Wisp. Upon contact, the creature evaporated and the reverberation from the creature’s destruction had knocked Donghyuck to the ground.

Renjun made his way to the sprawled out man, who was visibly shaken and suddenly very drained, and extended his hand to him.

“Come with me.”

Donghyuck had enough in him to decide that he could trust this stranger, at least for the moment, so he took Renjun’s hand and let himself be pulled to his feet.

If at that time, Donghyuck didn’t have such a blaring headache, maybe he would’ve noticed the man’s touch felt a lot like floating. 

As soon as Renjun got Donghyuck upright, he started their way back to the loft. Luckily, they didn’t need to walk too far to get there, unluckily, the rain had been growing heavier with every step. 

Once inside, Renjun set Donghyuck down onto his patchwork couch, the paleing boy proceeded to flop over onto his right side, leaving his original sitting position. Seeing this amplified Renjun’s stress, but he let it propel him to his countertop that was chaotically stocked with various potion making materials. 

Without wasting another second, Renjun sucked in a deep breath and set to work, knowing the exact mixture needed to heal the fading man on his couch. Within minutes, Renjun held a tall and thin glass containing the perfect Restoration Elixir. It had smelled heavily of orange blossom, and bubbled jauntily- so Renjun knew it had been made right. 

Having this confidence, he strode over to Donghyuck, set the potion on the coffee table behind him, then guided Donghyuck back into a sitting position.  
Renjun quickly assessed him before carefully placing his fingertips under the other’s chin and tilting Donghyuck’s head skywards, and finally, gently pouring the glowing gold liquid between his lips. 

Donghyuck’s color began to return almost instantly and the wizard felt the breath he’d been holding, escaping from his lungs.

However, as soon as he remembered how to breathe, a new tension was already taking place in Renjun’s. Since the Wisp had been destroyed after it had decided to target Donghyuck, his life was now in severe danger. 

The Wisps have a sole mission: seek out powerful essences, collect them, and deliver them to the evil wizard who created them, with the ultimate goal to convert those essences into destructive forces that will seize the universe so the evil wizard can pocket it for himself.

In order to protect Donghyuck from an evil he had no previous knowledge of, Renjun offered him a chance to apprentice in magic. At first Donghyuck was skeptical, he’d of course heard rumors of wizards and their wars, and of people who sought them out to buy spells or potions, but Donghyuck always thought they were children’s stories. 

Though the longer he sat on Renjuns couch, and inhaled the scent of very real brewing spells and potions, Donghyuck’s curiosity slipped into control and he agreed to becoming an apprentice, excited to do more than just barely get by, though slightly sad to be leaving his flowers behind.

For Renjun, excitement was one of the last feelings he was experiencing, because in a single moment he had endangered someone who could’ve lived blissfully ignorant to Renjun’s reality. 

As the days went on Renjun quickly learned that the energy Donghyuck creates is strong. 

So strong, that it pulls many of the Wisps to them, which has caused Renjun’s days to center around casting protection spells as far out as he can to prolong the arrival of Wisps at Donghyuck’s bedroom door. All this had of course been added to Renjun’s daily attempts to upkeep his spell business. The former, of course, requiring much more effort.

✫ ˚♡ ⋆｡ ❀

These new circumstances are what fuel Renjun as he unleashes this storm in the living room. Donghyuck watches, sitting criss-cross on the last dry patch of carpet. His eyes are glued to the wizard in front of him while his fingers absentmindedly pull at loose threads, waiting for the calm to emerge. Though, Donghyuck begins to worry it’ll be a long wait when a stray stream of crackling lightning lashes out from the center of the storm and goes onto scorch the wall behind him. 

Following the stray lighting, the water that had been haphazardly flying around the room moments prior, begins to swirl faster and faster, creating an orb around Renjun. 

Donghyuck would probably laugh at the tantrum if it wasn’t so serious, if it didn’t feel like his fault… if it wasn’t his fault.

After a while, the lightning fades into sparks, and curiously the water begins to congeal. Donghyuck is pulled away from his thoughts as he takes in the result of this burst of emotion driven magic. 

The now gel-like orb hangs in the center of the room, with Renjun in the center of it, folded in on himself and so still that it scares Donghyuck. 

Moving quickly, he uncrosses his legs and walks over to the blue mass of gel that Renjun is embedded in. Donghyuck's head tilts to the side, trying to figure out how to approach the situation in front of him. After a moment’s thought, Donghyuck simply rolls up the pale white sleeves of his sweater, bunching them around his elbows and reaches into the orb.

He lets his hands encircle Renjun's wrists as he begins to pull the wizard out, the orb then begins to crumble down onto the floor.

Once Renjun is completely separated from the mass of manifested worry, Donghyuck holds the wizard and looks at him with concern. The thick blue gel is caked into his collarbones, and twisted into his light brown hair, sitting so heavily there that it seems black. More thick globs of the gel are weighing his eyelids shut and pulling the corners of his lips downward. 

Not wasting another moment, Donghyuck gathers Renjun in his arms and carries him to the bathroom, setting Renjun on the tub’s ledge and against the adjacent wall before snapping his fingers.

At the sound, the faucet begins to pour out steaming cherry scented water at such a quick pace that the sound of the water bounces off the checkered tiles that line the walls of the bathroom. While the tub fills, Donghyuck takes a towel from the bar on the wall and begins to wipe as much of the gel from Renjun’s face as he can. Renjun stirs at the feeling of Donghyuck’s hands on his face, and smiles faintly at the inviting scent.

The tub sits full up with blush pink water and Renjun stares into it, rolling his shoulders back, and letting his head sway side to side, trying to stretch his now aching body.

“Thank you Donghyuck, I didn’t think that was going to happen...” Renjun’s voice trailed off, neither one knowing what was going to be said next.

The apprentice simply nods and helps Renjun out of his clothes and into the tub. He then takes Renjun’s previous place on the tub’s ledge and lets his head rest against the wall. 

This was a common occurrence in the loft, Renjun is prone to bottling strong emotions, or overworking himself to the point that his magic will say what he won’t. 

Donghyuck’s heart breaks a little every time it happens, because no matter how many times he tells Renjun he can be open around him, it seems to fall on deaf ears. Even so, Donghyuck is happy to help Renjun in whatever way he needs, after all, Renjun saved him all those months ago. 

Renjun half heartedly collects the water in his palms and scrubs at his face, not much of the gel was left there thanks to Donghyuck, so the wizard moved to scrubbing at his arms, the gel dissolving after a bit. Once his arms are freed, Renjun lets out a heavy sigh, throwing his head back and covering his face in his hands.

Donghyuck watches the wizard do this, his gaze falling on the birthmark on the man's hand. In the next moment, Donghyuck kicks off only his shoes and climbs into the tub behind Renjun, whose hands slip from his face and find their way into Donghyuck’s hands, giving them a squeeze.

“Hey,” Renjun breathes out.

“Hey,” Donghyuck parrots sweetly before reaching past Renjun and curling his fingers around the shampoo bottle.

The pale blue liquid pools in Donghyuck’s palm for a moment before he clicks the cap shut on his wrist and sets the bottle aside.

After seeing that the bottle had been set down, Renjun let's his eyes flutter shut while he tilts his head back toward Donghyuck, who begins to maneuver his hands through the wizard’s hair. The shampoo soon begins to foam and Renjun lets out another sigh, this time contented.

As Donghyuck finishes rinsing out the conditioner, Renjun catches a glimpse of Donghyuck’s sleeve and turns to face him, hand resting on Donghyuck’s forearm.

“Oh no. Your clothes are soaked..” The words leave Renjun’s pouting lips in a drawn out tone.

“I know, but don’t worry your precious head about that.” 

Donghyuck’s smiling statement is met with more pouting, but the apprentice only giggles, before climbing out of the tub to let Renjun finish up, he needs to clean up the living room anyways.

✫ ˚♡ ⋆｡ ❀

Donghyuck’s attention leaves the spell book strewn open in his lap as the bathroom door creaks open to reveal Renjun dressed in fresh silk pajamas, the blush pink of the material feels reminiscent of the cherry bath.

Renjun crossed the room and sat himself beside Donghyuck on the couch, leaning over to look at the open page.

“I can help you learn that tomorrow if you’re ready to try it out.” Renjun’s finger made its way down the page as he read through the ingredients list. Donghyuck nodded, noticing how Renjun was already back to hiding what he was thinking, distracting himself with work.

“Did I cause that?” Donghyuck’s voice slipped past his lips without warning.

“Cause what, Donghyuck?” Renjun’s left eyebrow shot up as he turned to look at his apprentice.

Donghyuck looked at his hands, trying to find the words he didn't expect to have to say, but Renjun quickly filled in the blanks.

“Oh… no Donghyuck, that wasn’t your fault, I was just overwhelmed, please don’t worry yourself over that.”

Donghyuck remains silent for a moment, warm tears building in his eyes, despite that being the last thing Donghyuck wanted,

“I’m sorry things got complicated when I showed up.” 

Renjun stares at him for a moment before bursting into a fit of giggles that made stars appear in his irises.

“Donghyuck, even if that were true, I wouldn't mind. My life is written in complications, it’s the wizard’s curse, baby.”

The words come out sweetly as Renjun shifts to get off the couch, and heads toward the kitchen.

Donghyuck pops up off the couch and falls into stride behind Renjun, catching the wizard’s wrist in his hand, causing Renjun to turn and look at Donghyuck.

“I’ll be sure to break that curse then.” The words spill desperately sweet from the apprentices lips, whose eyes shine in the same manner.

Something melts inside Renjun, whose cheeks begin to glow rosy.

**Author's Note:**

> hi! thank you for reading! this is an idea i've had for a while, so i'm really excited to work with it! this series will most likely be snapshots into their adventures instead of a linear story, but will of course all fit together! please let me now what you think! thank you again~! <3  
> find me on twt: @ renjunsdaydream


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